Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing.

2.

And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, "Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?"

3.

The LORD changed His mind about this. "It shall not be," said the LORD.

4.

Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land.

5.

Then I said, "Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?"

6.

The LORD changed His mind about this. "This too shall not be," said the Lord GOD.

7.

Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

8.

The LORD said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

9.

"The high places of Isaac will be desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

10.

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.

11.

"For thus Amos says, `Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.' "

12.

Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying!

13.

"But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence."

14.

Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.

15.

"But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, `Go prophesy to My people Israel.'

16.

"Now hear the word of the LORD: you are saying, `You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.'

17.

"Therefore, thus says the LORD, `Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.' "

Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

2.

He said, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

3.

"The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day," declares the Lord GOD. "Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence."

4.

Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land,

5.

saying, "When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales,

6.

So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?"

7.

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.

8.

"Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

9.

"It will come about in that day," declares the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.

10.

"Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone's loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

11.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.

12.

"People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

13.

"In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst.

14.

"As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, `As your god lives, O Dan,' And, `As the way of Beersheba lives,' They will fall and not rise again."